"Who put me on the roster?" After Wei Zhigao left, Su Chen examined the Spiritual Comlink in his hand. It came with matching instructions — like an old-fashioned phone from his previous life, complete with physical buttons.
Due to the fog's interference, communication range was limited to within Nanfeng City. It could handle short-range, temporary text exchanges. At the moment, there was only one contact in the device — Wei Zhigao.
'Could I have misjudged the creditor?'
Su Chen turned the device over in his hands. The metal casing had a surprisingly satisfying feel.
'Forget it. Pocket the perks first and figure it out later.'
When he couldn't make sense of things, Su Chen simply shelved them. At least he could freeload quite a bit of good stuff this way.
An upper first-tier physical class would certainly be stronger than the Strongman.
Based on the brief materials Wei Zhigao had provided, the Gale Walker leaned heavily into speed with a minor boost to strength.
The Strongman, by contrast, was pure strength enhancement. At the lower tiers, there generally weren't conflicts between classes.
In terms of long-term prospects, the Gale Walker was clearly the better choice.
Su Chen checked his schedule at the hallway terminal, noted the room for his physical training class, and squeezed in some training.
[Strongman: 20%]
[Molten Stone Forging Method — Beginner: 65%]
The Molten Stone Forging Method was only F-grade, but at the beginner stage, progress was still rapid.
There were even more Supervision guards around the academy now. Everyone entering or leaving was subjected to rigorous screening, and systematic sweeps were being conducted in every secluded corner on campus.
What he'd seen along the way led Su Chen to a guess: 'The attacker is still inside the academy?'
......
"Yuan Chenyang reacted fast... crafty old geezer..." From some shadowed corner of the campus, a pair of sinister eyes swept the surroundings as their owner muttered:
"The material of that thing is unusual — I can't take it out in the open. They'll find me eventually."
"I need a plan..."
......
"This place is serious." Su Chen arrived at the top-floor classroom. The room was sealed behind a heavy metal door. He swiped his student ID, and with a weighty grinding of gears, the door split open to both sides.
Several people had arrived ahead of him — all powerfully built. Their gazes carried a mix of surprise and wariness.
"Is this a gym?" Su Chen looked left and right. The spacious room was packed with massive pieces of equipment, all forged from metal.
"Uh, are you... in the right place?" one of them asked in a deep voice. He was holding something resembling a dumbbell, biceps bulging.
"Isn't this the physical training class?" Su Chen asked.
"It is, but..." The man nodded, hesitating. "I've never seen you before."
"I'm new..." Su Chen said casually. The group exchanged glances but didn't press further.
He looked around, picked up a dumbbell — black metal on both ends, with something like a dial built into the grip.
Su Chen experimentally gave it a twist. Blue fluorescence pulsed through the engravings on the dumbbell's surface. It felt heavier.
"Interesting..." Su Chen realized these tools were genuinely effective for physical training.
"Su Chen..." A somewhat familiar voice came from behind.
"Bai?" Su Chen turned, pleasantly surprised. There stood Bai Fengxi in a training outfit, hair tied up in a high ponytail, looking sharp and athletic. "You train physical too?"
'Bai?'
The others' eyes widened. This kid was close with Bai Fengxi?
Everyone here regarded Bai Fengxi as one of Yuan Chenyang's "protegees" — practically royalty. There was a natural wall between her and the rest of them.
"Just here to observe..." Bai Fengxi was evasive.
Seeing that she showed zero surprise at his presence, it clicked for Su Chen. "You're the one who got me in?"
"It was Yuan Chenyang. He's not taking any more students, but he could at least give you a chance." Bai Fengxi nodded.
"Thanks." Su Chen couldn't help but say it.
Bai Fengxi accepted his gratitude without fuss.
Click-clack!
The metal door opened again. Even Su Chen could clearly feel the wave of pressure as a solidly built man strode in, every muscle fiber sharply defined.
The group converged, expressions turning solemn. "Instructor!"
"That's the instructor — Zheng Shi." Bai Fengxi whispered.
Zheng Shi swept the room with his gaze. When his eyes landed on Su Chen, a slight frown creased his brow. "We have a new member today. Su Chen. From now on, he'll be training with us."
"Su Chen..."
"Never heard of him..."
Murmurs rippled through the group. Then someone hissed in sudden recognition: "Damn — I knew that face looked familiar. He's the one who got in through Teacher Jiang He."
"Jiang He... no wonder he's that good-looking..."
Envious, jealous, and resentful stares descended from all directions.
Even Instructor Zheng Shi paused for a beat. Jiang He...
"Quiet." Zheng Shi's brows slashed upward as he barked. "Start training. I'll come around to check on each of you. Have your questions ready."
"Su Chen, with me."
Su Chen followed Instructor Zheng Shi to a corner. The man was all business, producing a metal plate encased in some kind of transparent resin.
"Read it here. Memorize it." He was concise to a fault.
Su Chen took it. The metal plate inside bore a dense block of text. He barely finished scanning it before the panel flashed—
[Upper first-tier class discovered — Gale Walker. Complete the initiation requirements to take this class.]
[Gale Walker Initiation Requirement 1: Three cumulative years of running (1 year completed).]
[Gale Walker Initiation Requirement 2: Raise any basic physical training method to Mastery.]
Su Chen's brow lifted. Three cumulative years of running — and his entire previous life only counted for one year. Two more to go.
That was absurdly demanding. Even if he never ate, never slept, never felt fatigue, it would still take at least three or four years to finish.
No wonder Wei Zhigao had reacted the way he did.
This class clearly wasn't designed for ordinary people.
Even considering that physical development meant high-intensity body training and mental meditation typically didn't begin until adulthood—
Running was the kind of exercise you could specialize in and accumulate from childhood.
With that thought, su Chen handed the metal plate back. The actual text differed slightly from what the panel showed — he was used to that by now.
"You've memorized it?" Instructor Zheng Shi was surprised. The kid had barely glanced at it.
Other students, upon receiving class information, practically read each word a dozen times, terrified of missing some detail.
'Is his memory that good?'
The instructor considered saying something, but on second thought, simply tucked the plate away with a neutral expression. "Go train."
Su Chen found a corner and picked up a dumbbell.
"What class did you pick?" Bai Fengxi sidled over.
"Gale Walker." Su Chen said.
"Upper first-tier?" Bai Fengxi's brow knit slightly. She chose her words carefully. "The Elite Training Class runs periodic evaluations. If your progress doesn't meet standards, you'll be expelled."
The academy certainly wasn't going to let slackers freeload indefinitely.
"How often?" Su Chen asked, running mental calculations.
"Once a month."
Bai Fengxi studied his pensive expression and added: "As long as you've thought it through."
Instructor Zheng Shi was making his rounds, checking each student's training progress.
Without a panel displaying clean data, the others could only rely on experience to gauge how far they'd developed the skills their class required.
The basic requirements for physical classes weren't particularly difficult — just building raw physical capacity. Achieving a perfect advancement, however, was another matter entirely.
"...Idiot! Have you been training on your own again? Your abdominal and back muscles are obviously overdeveloped. Keep this up and you'll never achieve a perfect initiation!" Instructor Zheng Shi berated, visibly frustrated. The burly young man standing before him hung his head, not daring to utter a word.
These trainees came from various strata of Nanfeng City, but none had the privilege of specialized training from childhood. Many came from ordinary families and took this opportunity dead seriously.
Watching all this, Su Chen couldn't help but feel grateful. 'The Strongman class really was incredibly generous — letting me initiate directly. Saved me so much hassle.'
[The Strongman has detected the host's sincere gratitude. Greatly pleased, it has decided to devour the Gale Walker.]
What the—?
The notification flashed onto the panel without warning. Su Chen nearly jumped out of his skin.
'Buddy, don't do this — what if you lose? Would I even still have my Strongman class?!'